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Jumhalt
Jumhalt '[''DZJOEM-halt] 'is a small island nation just south of Cape Assakam in Avistan, the southernmost region of the Nova Core continent. Despite of its small size, it is relatively stable and has managed to stay independent for thousands of years. The capital of Jumhalt is Satheba [''SAH-thuh-bah], which is also the only sizeable settlement on the island. Description General information The island of Jumhalt is located in the Qadiyah Sea and has a very dry, arid climate. It consists of rough, mainly empty highlands that are of a vague yellos-brown color thanks to the dry grass which dominates it. Throughout Jumhalt a mountain range raises out of the ground, which divides the island into a smaller western part and a larger eastern part. The capital city of Sabetha is located on the western side, which is also home to a few smaller settlements, while the eastern side is wild territory where almost no humans live. Jumhalt is ruled from Satheba by a select class of people who have governed the island for most of its existance, not giving the common man any say in the decisions- not that the common man cares much about those things. International position Jumhalt is located just south of Cape Assakam [ah-SAH-kam], which is not a very promising location thanks to the western Cape Minalta being much more inhabited and internationally important, with Avistan's largest port city of Eribaid lying at the tip of it. The only contact Jumhalt consistently has with another Avistani city is with Tall Khawarsi on the far end of Cape Assakam; however, Tall Khawarsi itself is quite isolated because the road to more populous Duhaydina leads through abandoned and very dangerous wasteland. Concludingly we can say that Jumhalt is quite isolated geographically. Because of this, Jumhalt has never been an important player in the region and has never been particularly prosperous. However, it has managed to survive and has always retained its independence. Cultural position Another part of Jumhalt's isolation is the cultural disconnection between the isle and the rest of Avistan. The people of Jumhalt were, just like the Bessine, originally migrants from the mythic continent of Zubatha who came to Avistan under the leadership of The Prophet, who taught them the religion of Illumination. The Jumhaltans were part of the group who came to live in places like the pre-existing Bahizhare and the grand city of Sassara, but eventually left mainland Avistan behind for unknown reasons, which historians speculate would have had to do with military or religious conflict. The group of people fleeing Sassara arrived on Jumhalt, which had previously been uninhabited, and made a life for themselves there. Ever since, Jumhalt has been isolated from the rest of Avistan. It is reported that the Jumhaltans also have a deep hatred for the Bessine, a strange phenomenon which does not work both ways and has never been fully explained. Some people might argue that it is because of religious differences: Jumhalt has a different interpretation of Illumination and a different stance towards The Prophet. It is noted that the people living on the island have come to accept and even worship Karhajim, an Arch-Demon who is loathed in traditional Bessine Illumination, in strange and mysterious cults which seem to touch everyone's lives even though those dark practices are hidden and not at all visible in daily life on the island. The revering of Karhajim caused a lot of bad blood, but it may just have been a result of the Jumhaltans trying to differentiate themselves from the Bessine culturally. Jumhalt is considered by some to be the southernmost inhabited region of Nova Core, being located further south than Eribaid on Cape Minalta and The Guardians east of Muirne in the Islands region. However, many people argua that Jumhalt is not part of Nova Core proper because of the cultural disconnection and isolation to the Bessine, who themselves live in a border region. Jumhalt is therefore seen as a "second-tier border region", together with areas like Nycenia, Guilham and the Splinters.